


Haus Ghosts

by CunningfolkApothecary (LordAmulu)



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Because for some reason dex as a haus ghost pleased me, Gen, Haus!ghost AU, M/M, and dex having to be co-ghosts with the girls gave me giggles, he stays on the first and second floor and they stay in the attic, only vague nursey/dex, which was probably their lovenest in life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-08
Updated: 2020-09-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:21:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26352580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LordAmulu/pseuds/CunningfolkApothecary
Summary: Sometimes it's hard to live in a house with an entire hockey team. And three ghosts. Even if you're one of the ghosts.
Relationships: Derek "Nursey" Nurse/William "Dex" Poindexter
Comments: 3
Kudos: 61





	Haus Ghosts

**Author's Note:**

> From this Prompt:  
> I’m a ghost and I died in this apartment and NO ONE SHALL RENT IT, IT’S MINE, GET OUT OF HERE! But holy shit, you’re cute, I don’t want you to leave

The thrumming at his core was the first sign that something was amiss in the house. The house had sat for years in a neglected stasis, with the ghosts inside falling into a sleepy torpor, content with death. The contentment fled as the boys, or rather, the college-aged men arrived. They reminded him all too much of his own days at school, before the incident that... well. 

Tall they were, and well built. Eventually, they learned that the hockey team had rented out the house, and they seemed like a good bunch of guys. He learned the names of the players and their significant others and their families and their dramas. He learned secrets and the soft things they discussed late at night. He learned that that attic was pretty much the couple's room- something that thrilled Mandy and Jenny to no end. 

For years, he was content with watching. It was certainly better than when the sorority was here. That.. well, that was a nightmare in and of itself, and the root of his problems. Then again, it also meant that he was never truly alone- Mandy and Jenny were just a floor away, residing in the attic just as they had done when the three of them were flesh and blood. Sure, there were kegsters and parties that would go all night, but there were also nights where everyone was quiet, studying, or sleeping. Every now and then someone would be able to see him- not often, maybe once every decade, but it was enough. 

Johnson was the person this rotation with the sight, as his Grandmother would call it. The girls liked to call these people ‘seers’ and ‘totally gifted.’ He settled with using his grandmother’s vernacular. Johnson was also the one who gave William his nickname. He was Dex, and the girls were Handy Mandy (she was as bad in death as she was in life), and Jenny was Jiffer (or just plain Jiff, due to how smooth she could be when she and Johnson were laying out string after string of pickup lines, jokes, puns, and impromptu rap battles). 

Johnson was oddly philosophical about ...everything; school, life, ghosts, life and school with ghosts. Something about the narrative story and how alternate universes could alter an entire person, and at the same time alter nothing at all and, man, how cool was that? That there was endless possibilities and- 

And that would be the point where William would gently escort Johnson back inside and tuck him into bed, trashcan at the ready, just in case. Johnson’s room was across the hall from his room. Or what had been his room. Now a guy named Jack lived there, and that.. well. William knew him better than Jack probably wanted anyone to know him. He saw all the ups, the downs, the in-betweens that seemed to fluctuate wildly during that last year. It was through Jack (or more honestly, Shitty talking at Jack) that William got to know the intricate workings of the rest of the team. Mostly. 

Nothing Shitty and Jack ever talked about could have prepared him for the shitstorm that was who got Jack’s dibs. Originally, it was just going to be a rather cheerful frog named Chowder (and judging by all the Sharks posters that went up not twenty-four hours after Jack moving out, well, it was an apt nickname). 

What he didn’t count on was that another frog would be joining him, due to a rather impressive line of clusterfucks over at student housing that landed Chowder with a roommate. 

A roommate named Derek Nurse. Nursey. Half of the new D-men, and one of the few people alive that could aggravate Dex. It was upsetting just listening to the man talk, spewing word after word of nonsense and bullshit and just-

He did what any ghost would do. 

_He haunted the hell out of that room._

Besides, the room was really only meant for one person. He was going to save Chowder from a year of living in an awkward, cramped hell. Besides, it was his room, and he liked Chowder. He didn’t like Nursey. 

Nursey was already clumsy, so Dex initially started small. Little things to throw the man off and annoy him. Moving books to different shelves. Sliding jackets under the bed, and hiding flash drives in the cases of DVDs. Little shit like that. It went on for a good month before Nursey turned, glared at where Dex was, and simply said “Chill, dude.” 

He blinked at Nurse, not quite sure if he had been directing the comment at Dex or was just saying chill because he hadn’t yet reached his quota for the day. 

Then it happened again, with Nursey slapping the thumb drive out of Dex’s hand. Of course, his hand went mostly through Dex, but he managed to snag the thumb drive back and slid it into his bookbag. 

“Serious, Dex. Chill man.” He said, leaving Dex with his jaw hanging as the defensemen headed out to class. 

By the time Nursey had returned, his half of the room had been reduced to utter chaos; Chowders side of the room was still as pristine as ever, and the resulting fight between ghost and man was one of the strangest incidents in recorded Haus history. Bitty even came up to ask if Nursey was alright, and if he wanted to talk about whatever it was that was stressing him out. 

After that, Nursey stopped throwing things at Dex. It didn’t stop Dex from throwing things about, and more often than not, it’d cause someone to come to talk to the man about his _‘temper’_ getting out of control. 

Of course, some of these instances of Nursey’s temper getting the better of his _‘chill man’_ attitude may have been due to Dex doing his absolute best to make sure Nursey didn’t get much sleep, as payback for being such an annoying shitstain. 

Sometimes, being a ghost was great fun. 

The thing about people was that not many of them saw ghosts, and Dex had already scratched off both of this decade’s sighted peoples off his list. Nursey was an anomaly. Unexpected. Dex.. didn’t like anomalies. He liked his routines; he liked them while alive and he liked them in death as well. Having a third person being able to see him threw him completely off. He was used to having a break between people, of being allowed time to recharge and rest before the next person came along. 

Honestly, for as much of a ' _chill_ ’ person Nursey was, he was exhausting. Yeah, the fights were tiring as hell sometimes, but they were also invigorating. Sometimes, even, he could hold a decent conversation, and on those nights when Chowder was over at his girlfriend’s and it was late, late, so incredibly late at night and Nursey couldn’t sleep, they’d talk. 

It’d range from anything and everything and sometimes they were civil. Sometimes they started civilly and ended civilly. Most of the time though it just started civilly and ended up in a one-sided screaming one-sided angry hissing match. 

Dex liked these nights- it was like being alive again. 

Towards the end of the year though, things grew strange. And strained. Chowder avoided the room altogether- and in an overheard conversation with Bitty, the frog admitted to it just not being comfortable in there. Something Chowder attributed to having to share it with a friend this time, rather than a stranger. Bitty clicked his tongue, served the boy some pie which, even in death, Dex felt himself drooling over. 

And that, Dex thought, was the end of that.  
Until he found Nursey packing up his belongings at year-end. Dex poked and prodded the boxes and bags, frowning at the mass of things that were slowly getting piled on the bed and near the door, ready to be carted into the winter air that was threatening snow again. 

“Dude, chill.” was all Nursey said as he finished packing the last book away. Dex wasn’t sure if this was directed at him, as was most of the cases, or one of those rare times where it was directed at Nursey himself. 

“The hell are you going?” Dex asked, floating over to the man as he surveyed the (more) empty room. 

“Got a dorm. Figured it was time to move out, since. You know.” 

Dex did know, sort of. 

When the school year started up again, it was quiet. Chowder seemed happier with his own room, but it was... well it was _too_ quiet. Dex was man enough to admit that he was starting to miss the defenseman. 

Of course, the other two Haus ghosts picked up on this and began chirping him mercilessly about. 

“Why don’t you, like, go visit or something?” Jenny asked one night, when Mandy was off spooking Ransom. Dex raised an eyebrow, gesturing to his semi-transparent body. 

“Ghost, remember? We can’t exactly leave.” he stated. Jenny stared at him for a long moment, her face carefully blank as she digested his words. He knew she was an airhead, but come on. Seriously? 

He frowned hard as Jenny began to laugh, loud snorting peals that drew Mandy down from the attic, head sticking through the ceiling as she looked at them. 

“Mandy, Billy here-” Jenny said as Dex bristled at the name, a sharp admonishment on his tongue that was cut off by Jenny continuing. “Billy-boy here thinks he can’t leave the Haus.” 

Mandy let out a mock-gasp and floated another few inches down, showing shoulders through the floorboard. It made the nonexistent hair on the back of his neck raise. He might be dead, but he still liked to respect the laws of nature, somewhat. 

“Oh my gods, Dex. Like, you didn’t seriously think Jiffy here an’ I stayed here the whole time, did you?” 

“Um, yes?” 

“Ohh my gawds.” She yowled, reminding him of a cat his sister used to have. “Ohh my gawds, no Dexy-poo. We’re bound to the house, yeah, but it’s like, part of campus or something like that. I know the furthest Jenny-jens and I got was like, the Murder StopnShop. There’s like, this really sweet ghost over there who like, makes will-o-the-whisps on like, Halloween if you like, ask it nicely, and like...” Dex sat there in muted anger as Mandy continued warbling on. 

###### 

Nursey was settled into his new room at the dorm across the quad. It wasn’t the Haus, but then again... it wasn’t the Haus. No more ghosts waking him up at three am. No more stolen flash drives or overhearing the skype conversations between Jack and Bitty. No more hearing Bitty try to record the same thing eighty times. 

A room, all his own, where he could get his chill on. 

He let out a large sigh, flopping back onto the bed and relishing the peace and quiet. Until he heard a book crash to the ground. 

He shot up, looking around him to see if the door was unlocked and his neighbors were playing pranks on him yet. Instead, he saw a familiar mop of red hair and an almost-bashful looking man sticking halfway out of the wall and a quarter of the way into his desk. 

“For the record, that time it wasn’t on purpose.” Dex replied, bending down to pick up the book and gently slid it back onto the table. 

Nursey let out a groan and thumped backwards onto the bed.


End file.
